Previews Archive

The big news from clek this year is the introduction of their infant insert for the foonf and fllo. The insert—currently and likely permanently called the “infant thingy,” will allow the seats to be used from 5 lbs.

The insert consists of two pieces: a head pillow and a body pillow. The head pillow has tabs that slip into a set of harness slots to keep it in place. The body insert is separate and helps boost the child up a bit in addition to filling space between the baby and the sides of the seat, offering a more snug fit. The headrest of the insert is less padded than the body portion, allowing baby’s head to rest back naturally instead of being pushed forward. The head pillow can continue to be used once the body insert is no longer needed.

clek is also introducing a lower set of harness slots to help accommodate smaller babies. This change will be added to seats going forward, but here’s an important note: If you have an existing seat without the lower set of slots, you can use the infant insert EVEN IF THE LOWEST SLOTS ARE ABOVE THE CHILD’S SHOULDERS. This information will be provided in writing in the instructions that come with the insert. Although a bit unconventional, the seat has been tested and has passed in that configuration.

The insert will be available only in black, and it sounds like they do not plan to add other colors or patterns.

But speaking of colors and patterns, clek has a new denim-ish fabric, and Julius might be coming back!

In other news, clek is coming out with a cleaning kit for car seats. The kit will include a brush and two bottles of cleaning product, one for protein-based messes, and one for dye-based messes. The kit will likely retail for $29.99.

This week is National Child Passenger Safety Week and what better way to celebrate than to start off with a giveaway! And what better giveaway than a hot-off-the-molds Clek Fllo in the “Shadow” fashion! This convertible carseat is so new, it’s still waking up every hour and a half for feeding time.

Clek Fllo Specs:

Rear-Facing: 14-50 lbs; 25”- 44” tall

Forward-Facing: 22-65 lbs; 30”-49 and at least 1 year old, though Clek recommends a minimum of age 2 before ff

This promotion is now closed. Thank you for participating – a winner will be announced soon!

Clek Fllo Features:

5 sets of harness slots

2 crotch strap/buckle positions

Energy-absorbing EPP foam

Steel substructure

EACT: Energy Absorbing Crumple Technology transfers force away from the child to a honeycomb deformable core in the base

Anti-rebound bar: optional, for a more upright install for older and bigger rear-facers

Built-in lockoffs for easier seat belt installation

FAA certified for use on aircraft

Very narrow: great for side-by-side installations

All fabrics, except Drift, made of Crypton Super Fabric, a truly wipe-away-the-mess fabric

9 year expiration

Giveaway:

To enter, you MUST reply to this blog and leave a comment below (only 1 entry per household).

For extra entries, be sure follow the Rafflecopter instructions to Like our Facebook page, Like the Clek Facebook page, and tweet about the giveaway!

Winner must have a U.S. or Canadian shipping address. Hawaii and Alaska are also included (though may incur extra shipping fees)!

Now for the fine print (these may be in addition to the rules listed in the Rafflecopter terms)

Winner must have a USA or Canadian shipping address to claim the prize. Only one prize will be awarded, in Shadow fashion.

You are not eligible if you have previously won a carseat or any sponsored giveaway at CarseatBlog.com during 2013 or 2014 (our own giveaways of goody bags and such don’t count if no sponsor was mentioned). Carseatblog writers and editors are also not eligible. Only one entry per household/family, please. If you leave more than one comment, only the first one will count.

We reserve the right to deem any entry as ineligible for any reason, though this would normally only be done in the case of a violation of the spirit of the rules above. We also reserve the right to edit/update the rules for any reason.

The contest will close on September 28, 2014, and one random winner will be chosen shortly thereafter. If a winner is deemed ineligible based on shipping restrictions or other issues or does not respond to accept the prize within 7 days, a new winner will be selected.

Good luck!

Please note: If this is your first comment at CarseatBlog, or if you are using a different computer/device or a new email address, your comment may not appear immediately. It will not be lost; it may just take a few hours for it to be approved. Thank you for your understanding and patience as this is the only way we have to reduce comment spam.

As we were wandering around the ABC Expo, we stumbled upon a new seat we didn’t even know was in the works. It’s an infant seat from Hauck, a German company that has been in existence for nearly a century and already has seats in the European market. The seat, which has yet to be named, has already passed US and Canadian testing, and will be rated from 5-35 lbs.

The seat has an extremely tall shell, with a seatback height of about 20 inches, meaning it could potentially fit a 2-year-old child. There is also a well contoured infant insert for use with newborns and small babies. One really nice thing about the infant insert is that it is reversible between a “summer” and “winter” side, with slick and fleecy-feeling fabric, respectively.

There are four harness heights that get progressively wider as they get higher, to fit larger children better. Possibly the neatest feature of the seat is in the base: The angle adjuster is built into the belt lockoff. That means that you can adjust it to exactly where you need it while it’s sitting where it will be when installed. Here’s a demonstration:

As you saw if you watched the video, the seat is also extremely easy to insert into the base. No wiggling or rattling is necessary: Just drop it in, and the base guides the seat into place. Other nice features are pictograms on the handle showing proper positioning for in and out of the car. In the car, the handle is to be moved forward into an anti-rebound position. (Keep in mind this is a prototype. On the actual seat, the pictures will be more noticeable.) The prototype had two sets of loops on the harness for different-sized children. Pictures on the loops themselves make it clear which is which—a great idea for eliminating confusion. European belt routing is likely for baseless installs. The seat will also be available under the higher-end i’coo brand. The i’coo versions will have a larger, ventilated canopy and different fashions. The Hauck and i’coo infant seats will all be compatible with the companies’ strollers without the need to an additional car seat adaptor. Production on these seats is set to begin toward the end of the year, with seats hitting the US AND Canadian markets as early as January. Price-points for the US seats will be around $200 for the Hauck version and $229 for the i’coo.